Determination Of Elastic Modulus Of Artery Wall By Modeling Of Artery Wall And Blood Flow

Modeling of blood flow and arterial wall in large arteries such as carotid artery, using ultrasonic measurements, allows non-invasive evaluation of clinically interesting homodynamic variables. In this study, a nonlinear mathematical model for the pulsatile arterial flow is proposed using the approximation of “local flow” theory. The blood velocity profile, the pressure gradient and the elastic modulus can be calculated using the model by measuring instantaneous radius and center-line blood velocity. An original mathematical model of pressure gradient in a tapered and elastic tube, using center-line blood velocity, is presented. A Newtonian incompressible Navier-Stokes solver coupled with elastic or visco-elastic arterial wall model is developed to solve the equations of model. The results of modeling and simulation indicate that the approach can estimate the elastic modulus of arterial wall from ultrasonic data. There is a good agreement between the computed arterial wall elasticity and the measured one. The method presented is relatively simple to implement clinically and can be taken as a new diagnostic tool for detecting local vascular change.